India Trade Relations

India being an emerging economy of the world has a strong economic policy which stresses on developing and strengthening bilateral trade relations with different nations across the world.

Top Ten Trading Partners of India

As of 2008-09, India’s top ten trading partners and the trade carried out with them has been summarised as

Country

Trade 2008-09(Rs. In crores)

Trade Balance

CHINA

1,63,202

-92,676

USA

1,55,353

12,254

UAE

1,52,668

-1,934

SAUDI ARABIA

1,05,602

-64,303

GERMANY

67,602

-19,497

SINGAPORE

63,280

2,934

U K

50,144

524

HONG KONG

50,129

1,772

BELGIUM

41,552

-5,294

NETHERLAND

33,099

19,049

Bilateral Trade, China and India
India and China share a strong bilateral trade relation which is indicated by the fact that seven yearly agreements on trade have been signed since 1986. Statistics show that the total trade volume between China and India accounted to only US$ 265 million, whereas in 1999 it increased to US$ 1,988 million. In 2000, this figure raised to US$2,910 million.

Bilateral Trade, USA and IndiaBilateral and Multilateral Trade Relations
The U.S and India are not bounded by any particular agreement of trade regulations and policies. They follow the trade policies of World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Top Five Traded Commodities

Top products exported to India
This includes air machinery, electrical machinery, optical and medical instruments and aircraft.

Bilateral Trade, U.A.E and India
Few Important Bilateral Treaties between U.A.E and India:-

Extradition Treaty, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Criminal Matters & Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in Civil Matters: This was signed in New Delhi in October, 1999 and was implemented in May 2000.

Agreement on Juridical and Judicial Cooperation in civil and commercial matters: This agreement was signed in New Delhi in October, 1999.

Agreement to Combat Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances: This was signed in New Delhi in January6, 1994.

Civil Aviation Agreement: This treaty was signed in March, 1984.

Cultural Agreement: This was meant to enhance cultural exchange programmes.

Defence Cooperation Agreement: This agreement was signed in June, 2003

Information Cooperation Agreement: The Emirates News Agency (WAM) and the Press Trust of India (PTI) signed this agreement in New Delhi in April 2000.

Channel Carriage Agreement: This was signed on 24.09.2000 at Abu Dhabi

MOU on Manpower SourcingThe figures of trade between the U.A.E and India have been summarized as

S.No.

2002-03

2003-04

2005-06

2006-07

2007-08

1. Export

3,327.48

5,125.61

7,347.88

8591.79

10,671.88

2. % Growth

54.04

43.36

16.93

3. Import

956.99

2059.85

4641.10

4354.08

7500.61

4. % Growth

115.24

125.31

-6.18

5. Total Trade

4284.47

7185.46

11,988.98

12,945.87

18,172.49

6. % Growth

67.71

66.85

7.98

7. Trade Balance

48.3953

45.9513

44.9315

44.2735

46.00

(Values in US$ Million)

Bilateral Trade, Saudi Arabia and India
Bilateral trade history between the two nations is several centuries old. India stands in the 4th position when it comes to trade with Saudi Arabia. As of 2004-05, the value of the bilateral trade between the two countries has exceeded US $ 8.76 billion. Crude oil worth US $ 6.13 billion was imported during the period. Saudi Arabia occupies the15th spot in the world market for Indian exports. Saudi Arabia also accounts for 5.5% of India's global imports.

Trade figures for the last nine years are as followsIndo-Saudi Trade (million US $)

Year (Apr-Mar)

*Imports from Saudi Arabia

Exports to Saudi Arabia

Total trade

Indian export increase over previous year(%)

1998-1999

1831.47

774.29

2605.76

12.23

1999-2000

2419.24

742.50

3161.74

-4.11

2000-2001

621.12

822.94

1444.06

10.83

2001-2002

463.99

826.43

129 0.42

0 .42

2002-2003

504.72

940.74

445.47

13.83

2003-2004

737.77

1,123.31

1861.08

19.41

2004-2005

1301.15

1412.06

2713.21

25.71

2005-2006

1632.34

1809.77

3442.11

28.17

2006-2007

13,383.90

2,588.18

15,972.08

43.01

Note: Imports figures for 2000-2001 and the later years do not include import of Petroleum Products

Bilateral Trade, Germany and India

Economic Relations between India and Germany
Indo- German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) has eventually expanded into the largest foreign chamber of commerce and trade in India and also as the biggest German bi-national Chamber globally. In 2006 the IGGC celebrated its 50th year of trade and commerce relations. India also partnered with the Germans in the 2006 Hannover Fair, which is recognised as the world’s largest technology fair. The IGGC have set up a goal to achieve trade up to 20 billion Euros by 2012.

Figures of Indo-German Export Market
Overall the export industry is growing day by day and the figures indicate a rise in the trade between the two countries. The textile industry accounts for the highest trade with figures of export touching Euro 1.5 Billion. The second position is occupied by the chemical products which are worth about Euro 585 million. Data processing, electronic and optical equipment with €579 million come next to it. The fourth and fifth spots are taken by machinery with €418 million and leather products with €396 million.

German Exports to India
Germany, which is one of the world’s leading exporters stands on the fifth position globally as India’s trade associate. It is also the largest trading partner within the European Union. Germany shares a notable 11 per cent of the total business dealings between EU and India. German exports to India grew to €8.2 billion, advancing at a rate of over 12 per cent in 2008. In 2009, this figure reduced by 1.2 percent to arrive at €8.1 billion.

Bilateral Trade, Singapore and India

Bilateral ties have been on the rise with India ever since Singapore’s independence in 1965.

Among the ASEAN countries, Singapore is the largest investor in India and the second leading country amongst all countries with foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, amounting to US$ 2.4 billion in 2009-10.As per data given by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) the collective FDI inflows from Singapore to India during April 2000 and March 2010 were US$ 10.2 billion

Bilateral Trade, UK and India So far as Europe goes, the UK is one of the most prime business destinations. Out of the 1200 Indian firms in the EU, 700 carry out their operations from the UK. The single largest manufacturing company in the UK is Tata.

Bilateral trade came out to be £11.5 bn in 2009 and £ 12.6 bn in 2008.UK exports to India in 2009 were £ 4.7 bn (£4,687mn) and £ 6.8 bn (£6,763mn) was the figure of imports from India.

The largest European investor in India is the UK and fourth on a global basis with £3.87bn of FDI stock in 2008. Indian FDI statistics in the UK stood at £3.43 bn at the end of 2008.